muckdogs

Press release:

The 2012 New York-Penn League All-Star roster will include five players from Batavia. They will send infielders Breyvic Valera and Patrick Wisdom, catcher Jesus Montero and pitchers Tyler Melling and Lee Stoppelman to the game to be held Tuesday, Aug. 14 at Eastwood Field, home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

Valera, an undrafted free agent signing in 2010, has played in 45 games for the Muckdogs this year and has been among the league leaders in hitting all season. Valera currently ranks third in the league in hitting, with a .332 batting average, and his 62 hits currently leads the league.

Patrick Wisdom was drafted by the Cardinals in the supplemental first round of this year’s draft and is enjoying a stellar first professional season. He is currently batting .278 with 27 runs scored, 10 doubles and 16 RBI’s in 41 games. Wisdom has also played great defense at third base this season and ranks first in the league for defense at that position with a .963 fielding percentage with only four errors.

Montero was an undrafted free agent signing in 2007 and has started 33 games at catcher for the Muckdogs this season. He is currently batting .308 with six doubles, four home runs and 21 RBIs. Montero has also been solid behind the plate this year and has helped guide the pitching staff to a team ERA of 2.98, which ranks third in the league. Montero will be unable to attend the game due to injury. 

A 39th round pick out of Miami (OH) University in the 2011 draft, Melling is 2-1 with 31 strikeouts in eight games started for the Muckdogs. The left-hander’s ERA of 2.27 ranks him eighth in the league and his WHIP of 1.06 ranks 11th in the league.

St. Louis drafted Stoppelman out of Central Missouri State in the 24th round of the 2012 draft. He has appeared in 14 games and has a 2-1 record with a 1.16 ERA. In 23.1 innings of work, he has struck out 26 batters and only allowed 15 hits. Opposing batters are hitting just .174 against him on the year. 

Batavia holds the third-place spot in the Pinckney Division with a record of 24-24. This marks the fourth time in five years that the Muckdogs have sent at least five players to the All-Star game. The Muckdogs sent five players to the 2008 All-Star game, three in 2009, five in 2010, and six in 2011.

U.S. Attorney for Western New York Bill Hochul was in Batavia tonight to throw out the first pitch at the Muckdogs game.

Two games into his professional career, Alex Mejia came through for the Muckdogs in a big way Saturday night, giving local fans an idea why the Cardinals selected the Pac-12 Player of the Year in the fourth round of June's amateur draft.

Mejia put the Muckdogs on the board in the third inning against the Lowell Spinners with an RBI double. It was Mejia first professional hit (top photo).

The former El Camino Real High School (Sylmar, Calif.) All-City shortstop also flashed some leather that proved solid defensively.

Mejia helped lead the Arizona Wildcats to a College World Series championship and signed with the Cardinals just a week ago at the end of his junior year in college to help his family out financially. He received a $250,000 bonus.

The newest Muckdog comes from a strong baseball family (his father was an All-American at Pepperdine, his sisters play college softball and his cousin is with the Washington National's AAA farm team). 

The 21-year-old Californian put up impressive numbers at Arizona, hitting .357 in 2012 and .335 in 2011.

ESPN featured Mejia in a recent article, and the shortstop received some high praise.

"His passion to succeed, his intangibles, his knowledge of the game ... Alex has it all," Lopez said. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone."

There are some analysts who believe Mejia is the best shortstop in all of college baseball. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year -- and Defensive Player of the Year -- is hitting .361 and boasts a fielding percentage of .959.

But Mejia wasn't the only player to contribute to the Muckdog's 3-0 win over Lowell in front of 667 loyal Muckdog fans.

David Washington, a fourth-year pro from San Diego, who is showing signs of putting it all together this year and is hitting .322, drove in two key runs in the fourth inning with a two-out double.

Tyler Melling picked up his first in four starts this season, tossing six shutout frames, scatting seven hits and striking out five Lowell batters. Mellin's ERA dropped to 2.05.

Last season's starting shortstop is now the Muckdog's closer, and Yunier Castillo picked up his third save on the year. After eight appearances, Castillo's ERA is 0.80 and he's fanned 12 in 10 innings.

First-round pick Patrick Wisdom continued his solid rookie season with two hits and some impressive defense at third base.

Also collecting a hit was catcher Jesus Montero, who is the top offensive player for the Muckdogs so far this season.

Montero is hitting .407 with three home runs and 12 RBI. His OPS is 1.072.

The fifth-year pro is the brother of Seattle Mariner's catcher Jesus R. Montero (the Seattle catcher is known as Jesus Rafael Montero as opposed to the Muckdog's Jesus Montero). The elder Montero was traded to Seattle by the Yankees, where he was considered one of the top catching prospects in the major leagues.

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